


The Fear of Unknown

by Palemka



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Awkward Sexual Situations, F/M, Fluff, Marijuana, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:28:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25315339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palemka/pseuds/Palemka
Summary: New Year, new spring, new people.This season didn't seem to start well for Sebastian. On top of that, a new farmer in town, Lily, is making him doubt everything he knew about life and love so far.
Relationships: Sebastian/Female Player (Stardew Valley), Sebastian/Player (Stardew Valley)
Kudos: 9





	1. First Friday of the First Spring

It was the first Friday of the month, and simultaneously a first Friday of the year. The winter, Sebastian's favorite season was over. The spring wasn't so bad in itself, but it meant that summer was inevitably getting closer. And summer was definitely a disaster - it was hot and humid all the time, the beach was crowded and mom was constantly berating him to go outside more.  
Sebastian looked at the screen of his computer resigned, as the bugs in his code seemed to multiply every hour today. The deadline was getting closer and closer, yet the program he was hired to write was still far from being finished.   
Sebastian turned off his computer and got up to leave the room, prepared to head out to a bar. It was his weekly tradition - he and his friends Sam and Abigail were hanging out in a bar, drinking beer, eating pizza, and playing pool. He thought about skipping today, since the amount of work he had left was giving him anxiety, but he felt like his brain was already fried today. No way he could do anything constructive anyway.  
Sebastian went upstairs and to his surprise, he saw a girl standing in the hall. He didn't know her, which was odd, because there weren't too many strangers visiting the Valley. The girl had light pink, slightly wavy hair with an asymmetric cut. When she heard doors closing behind the Sebastian, she jumped.   
"Oh, you scared me," she said with relief. "I'm looking for Robin."  
Sebastian stared at her, unprepared for this unexpected conversation with a stranger.  
"I'm so sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Lily," she continued talking and reached out a hand.  
Sebastian wasn't the type to greet anyone this way, so he decided to ignore it, and instead eyed her from head to toes. The girl was wearing very plain, oversized clothes, clearly not caring much about her looks. And was that mud on her hoodie? Not that he cared. She could stand there naked and he wouldn't care. He just wanted to get out of this conversation.   
"Mom already head out. She's probably in the saloon."   
"Oh," she took her hand back, disappointed. "I wanted to ask her about building a well on my farm, but I guess I'll come back tomorrow. Wait, you said mom? So you must be Sebastian, right? She told me about you the first time I met her."  
So the girl must have been the new farmer his mom was talking about. And of course, mom must have blabbed about him. Like his existence was an important part of her life. Couldn't she just talk about her wonder child Maru instead?  
"So you just moved in, right? Cool." He quickly started heading towards the front door, to avoid further conversation, but the sudden thought stopped him and he turned around to her one more time. "Out of all the places you could live, you chose Pelican Town?"  
"Yeah, you know, it's a funny story actually, I was working in a city before, and..."  
Sebastian didn't even bother to stop her from talking and simply walked out. 

***

"You sure you don't want to play?" asked Sam, holding pool cue in his hand.   
"Nah. You two can play together. I'll just sit and watch today," answered Sebastian.  
"You're really not in a mood today, huh?" asked Abigail, preparing balls on the table.  
"I guess you can say that. I'm sad that winter is over. And that damn program is stressing me out, I can't figure out a way to get rid of errors that keep popping up."  
"Ooh, so that's what's been buggin' you," Sam grinned as he stood straight, clearly proud of his pun. "Get it? Because you know... bugs."  
Sebastian put his face in his hand. "Somehow, you're making it even worse. Thanks."   
"Oh, relax, Sebby. I'm sure you'll figure it out. Let it go and help me win against this cocky bastard," said Abigail, struggling to get even one clean shot against Sam. Sebastian sighed, looking at the purple-haired girl in front of him. Abby was his friend since childhood, as the three of them went to school together. He grew very fond of her, as she was the only girl he knew that shared his interest in comic books and video games. Admittedly, he had a crush on her for many years now. He tried dropping little hints, to scout whether she was interested in anything more than friendship. But Abigail seemed oblivious to them or at least pretended to be. Out of the fear to ruin what they already had, Sebastian dropped the topic and kept his fantasies about Abby in his head.   
"You're doing it all wrong, Abby. You won't win holding the cue stick like that." He sighed and got up. "Here, let me show you."  
Sebastian stood beside her and grabbed her hand, gently adjusting it on the stick. "You gotta grab it a bit higher. Try it now."  
Abigail made the shot and watched the ball slowly rolling right into the corner pocket.   
"Hah! In your face!" she yelled as she high fived with Sebastian.  
"That's not fair," Sam whined. "Of course you'll win with Sebastian playing for you."  
"Hey, I didn't even touch the thing," he raised his hands in defense. "It was all Abby." He sat down on the sofa again, letting Abigail continue on her own. She was doing noticeably better, and the game felt very close.  
"...and did you see her dirty clothes? Pathetic. How is she not ashamed?" they heard a loud voice, clearly belonging to Haley, from the next room.  
"Ugh. Who is she rambling about this time?" Abigail made a face, not trying to hide her dislike for Haley.  
"If I were to guess, the new farmer maybe?" said Sebastian, and two friends looked at him in shock.  
"You met her? Mom was telling me that someone new moved into the farm, but I never actually see her. Or knew that it was a girl, for that matter," said Sam.  
"Yeah, dad said she came to his shop to buy some seeds, but I was still sleeping at the time. Didn't have a chance to meet her either."  
"Uhh... Yeah. She came by today, looking for my mom."  
"More details, Seb! How old is she? Is she pretty?" Sam seemed excited about the prospect of a new girl in town.  
"Something about our age if I had to guess. And you'll have to judge it yourself." He saw Sam's prying eyes and sighed. "...she's not ugly, I guess. Not that it matters anyway, I will be keeping myself far away from her. She's all," Sebastian made a 'blah blah' gesture with his hand, "talky talky."  
"Oh no, she talks, the horror!" Sam put the hand on his forehead in a dramatic gesture. "I would make fun of you some more, but honestly, I'm fine with that, this way I can have my chance."  
"You didn't even meet her, Sam. How can you talk about hitting on her?" Abigail didn't seem to understand his friend's logic.  
"It's easy. I'm becoming more and more desperate to get laid!"

***

A cigarette. Finally.   
It was possibly his favorite moment of the day. Standing next to the mountain lake, right next to his house and smoking. His mum didn't let Sebastian smoke in the house; and even he had to admit that smoking in a room without windows didn't sound like such a good idea.   
He couldn't smoke that much around his friends, either. Sam tolerated it, but Abigail thought that the smell of cigarettes is disgusting. So, unfortunately, the imaginary kiss he replayed in his head so many times would have to be nicotine-free.   
He said his goodbyes to his friends about half an hour ago, and as much as he liked their company, he felt relieved to be alone again.  
He felt a vibration in his jeans pocket and took out his phone. It was a text from Sam.  
  
**SAM: lol I barely kept myself from laughing. 'oh dear Abbie, put your hand on my stick'**  
**SAM: just tell her already dude**

Sebastian put his phone back in his pocket, figuring that responding to that abomination of a text would only provoke Sam. He was his best friend, but his constant nagging was exhausting at times. Sebastian already made peace with the fact that Abigail was not meant for him. It was easier this way, just being around. No drama. Maybe he could see himself getting over her one day.  
He took a puff of his cigarette and looked around. With a corner of his eye, he noticed someone walking behind the bushes.  
_It's probably just the homeless man._ There was this guy, Linus, who was living in a tent behind their house. He didn't mind, as long as he was as quiet and barely noticeable as he was.  
He returned to his thoughts, but not for long - it wasn't Linus - the farmer girl appeared from behind a tree. She must have to get changed, as this time her clothes seemed to be clean, although still not exactly presentable. He ignored her, but she stopped right next to him, looking at the lake, and didn't seem to want to leave.  
Sebastian sighed. "Um... need something?" he asked.  
"I don't need anything. Can't I just stand here?"   
"Uh... No. I don't really know you. And I'm busy thinking about something. Can't you find your own spot?"   
"You're pretty rude, you know. Anyone told you that before?"  
Sebastian tossed his finished cigarette on the ground and smashed it with his shoe.   
"Listen, Lily... your name was Lily, right? I'm not a people person, so you can stop trying to befriend me, or whatever it is you're doing. Pelican Town is full of people who love to talk. I don't. I prefer to be left alone."  
Lily tilted her head and crossed her arms. "You have a lot to say for a person who doesn't like to talk."  
Sebastian sighed again. "Fine. You won. I'll go. But find your own place next time."  
He turned around to face his house, feeling Lily's judging eyes on his back. Who the hell did she think she was? Did she think she was special in some way, or interesting enough that he would find time for her in his life?   
The spring barely started and it was already terrible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter to just warm myself up! Posting chapters always keep me motivated to write more, and this was hanging in my notepad for far too long. This time it was Sebastian's POV, but I'll try to alternate ocasionally. We'll get to know more about our farmer in the next chapter, I promise!


	2. Chapter 2

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Lily groaned as she heard the noise of her alarm clock. Oh, how she hated getting up early. In the old days, when she was still living in the city, she would gladly sleep till afternoon on her days off. Now, she didn't have any days off. Dear Yoba, it was Saturday, and she still had to get up at 6, to have time to water her tiny field of crops and chop some trees that were overgrowing her farm to the point it was mostly forest.

She put on her coffee machine, thanking Yoba that this wonderful drink existed. How she could even function at this early hour without it, she didn't know.  
Lily opened up a fridge, and to her disappointment, it was empty yet again.   
_Great. Now I have to make time for some fishing too._

When Lily moved to the Valley, she didn't bring much money with her, because she didn't have much - her apartment in the city was rented, and Joja was paying her freaking pennies. She spent a little bit she had saved for parsnip seeds, as they were supposed to be easy for a beginner farmer to raise. And oh boy, if that was easy, how was she supposed to do anything more than that? She had a tiny, tiny plot of the crop now, and it was still taking her at least 2 hours every day to water.   
Anyway, since she spent most of her money on crops, she didn't exactly have much choice when it came to eating. Luckily, she was a bit skilled in fishing, so she was able to fish her some dinner. And as tasty as it was, eating fried fish every day... was starting to annoy her.   
_I really hope my plots won't wither or something. I could use some money._

Sipping her coffee, Lily thought about how life in this town was so far. And it was... not great. She still didn't exactly felt great about her decision to move, and people here didn't make it easier. Granted, she didn't meet many of them, but the villagers she met... That blonde gal, Haley, seemed to be keeping at least 2 meters distance from her as if she was a leper or something. Shane? Didn't want to at least try and talk to her. Oh, Robin was nice. She seemed like a warm person. But her son?

To be honest, Lily felt a bit guilty about the lake situation. The truth was, she has so emerged in her own thoughts, she didn't even notice anyone else was standing there. And it was hard to see him in the darkness, hiding behind a shrub, with his black clothes and black hair. But it was still rude of him to expect her to go as if he owned a place. How can Robin be so great and her own son so unpleasant?

Fuck that. She was not going to worry about it. If he doesn't want to talk to her, he can go fuck himself.

She put down the empty mug and sighed, thinking about all the heavy work she had to do right now.

***

Saturday was typically a day for band practice for Sebastian. He had a rough couple of days and didn't feel like playing the piano right now. However, he knew Sam wouldn't let him live if he didn't at least try. He decided to send him a text instead.

**SEB: hey, let's practice at my house today. Bad mood.**   
**SAM: won't Demetrius kill us?**   
**SEB: whatever.**   
**SAM: I'll be there in 15**

Sebastian knew that Sam was right - Demetrius will probably storm down as soon as he hears the noise, yelling about disrespecting rules in his house and his job. Sebastian couldn't care less though, if anything it gave him an excuse to not practice today.

His life with that man was miserable. He was programmed to find every opportunity to give Sebastian a shit about little things. About how he never gets out of the room, or about how he gets out at the wrong hour, supposedly waking him up in the process. Screw that, he was paying his share of bills, so he had a right to live however he wanted. 

He still wanted to move out. Programming gigs were fairly well paid, but between the Zuzu City being expensive and paying bills for mom... he still didn't have nearly enough. If he kept up the pace though, he calculated that it would only take him another year or so. Only one more year in this shithole and he would be free at last.

The door to his room opened up and Sam stormed the room with a big, goofy smile on his face. Sebastian sighed.  
"When will you all learn to knock? I could be naked in here."  
"That's what I'm counting for, Sebby. Now, give me a kiss."  
"Oh, shut up." Seb took a bong and a lighter and passed it over to Sam.   
"How did I knew that inviting me here was an elaborate plan to weasel out of the practice and smoke weed instead? Whatever man. The practice is canceled anyway, Abby couldn't make it. Some family stuff," said Sam taking bong from Sebastian's hand and climbing on a bed.  
"Why didn't you just tell me that when I texted you? I could stay in bed all day," he answered with a disappointment in his voice and sat down next to Sam.  
"That's exactly why I didn't tell you." Sam took a hit out of the bong and passed it back to Sebastian. "Is something bothering you? Or is that just... Sebastian mood?"  
Sebastian shrugged. "I don't know. Some things bother me, but it's nothing new, so... just a mood, I guess."  
"Abby?" asked Sam.  
"That's one of them. Also, Demetrius. Also, incoming summer. And people in general."  
"Incoming summer? Spring JUST started." Sam laughed. "As for the Abby thing... you know what I will say."  
"And you know what I told you, not an option. I'm too deep in the friend zone now to ask her out," he inhaled the smoke. "I'll get over her, eventually. It'll get easier when I'll finally move to the city. There's no way I'm meeting anyone here."  
Sam nodded. "Yeah, I get what you're saying. Not so many people in the Valley."  
"Excluding Abby, there is like what, five other girls our age in town?" Sebastian asked. "One of them is my sister. Penny's your ex, so she's out of the pool as well. Emily's actively trying to hit on my sister, so I'm pretty sure she's not interested in men. And Haley... well..." Sebastian quickly passed a bong back to Sam and slightly turned over, trying to hide his embarrassed face.  
"Dude, you were like what, 15? I know that date was a disaster, but Haley's a bitch to everyone, and you were young and stupid." Sam wondered for a second. "Why did you even ask her out back then? She doesn't seem like your type of person."  
Sebastian shrugged. "Boobs." Sam reacted with laughter. "Hey, you told it yourself, I was young and stupid."   
"Well," said Sam still laughing, "that leaves us with Leah. Nothing wrong with her, I think?"  
"Eh," Sebastian sighed, "I'm really not into redheads."  
"What, really? I thought most guys love redheads."  
"I... ah damn, you're gonna laugh." Sebastian looked at his friend with embarrassment.   
"Go on," Sam insisted.  
"It's just... they remind me too much of my mom and I can't get it out of my head."  
Just as he suspected, Sam burst into laughter. "Right. Go on. Make fun of me."  
"Well, you're right, sex would be kinda awkward," said Sam, wiping tears from the corner of his eye.   
"Oh, shut up," answered Sebastian, chuckling lightly.

Honestly, he was glad his friend showed up today.  
It seemed counter-intuitive that Sam was his best friend, but miraculously, it worked. He was his complete opposite - outgoing, confident, and loved huge parties and other social events. He forced Sebastian to come out of his shell, if even for a little bit, without pressuring him when he was reaching his social limit. He knew the signs and knew when to stop pushing.  
"Hey, I almost forgot," said Sam, finally catching his breath again. "Didn't you say that the new girl is our age too? That's one more to count."   
"I suspect she's our age," he clarified. "But nah, I'll leave her for you. Can't leave you alone when I'm gone for the city, after all."  
"You're right," Sam closed his eyes, stretching himself on the bed. "I'll miss your emo ass."

***

Lily stood under the shower, hot water flowing onto her body. She felt like every muscle she had was aching, even ones she didn't know existed. She suspected that moving here and farming will be connected to hard physical work, but she didn't know it will be this hard. And after months of working office job at Joja, her physical fitness was... not that great.  
Each day she finished so physically strained, she didn't really have the strength or will to get out to town and try to socialize more. But she was determined to do that today, as she felt the weekend was probably the best opportunity to do so. 

  
Lily went out of the shower and knelt in front of the small chest in the corner of the room. She didn't have many clothes - she had to pack herself into two bags when she came here, as she didn't have a car. That was it, she moved with everything she could carry and pack into a bus.   
She did, however, made a strategic mistake. She figured that since it's early spring - so still quite chilly, and she would mostly be working on her farm anyway, she would pack mostly oversized hoodies and comfortable pants. There had to be a clothing shop in town, so she could buy herself something more presentable, right?

Of course, there wasn't. 

  
Lily stared at the stack of clothes, disappointed and mad at herself. It was way easier to make a good first impression when you were dressed right. 

  
She picked up a black t-shirt with a red dragon on it and a pair of tight, blue jeans. She also grabbed a grey cardigan and threw it on herself to keep her warm. Lily looked at the mirror on her way out. It wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she was thinking about attractive clothes, but it had to do for now. At least they were clean.

  
The laundry, the freaking laundry. For now, the pile of dirty clothes was getting bigger and bigger in her bathroom, because of course there was no washing machine in that little hut. She had to do laundry by hand in her shower, at least until she figured out how and where the hell she was supposed to buy a washing machine. And Yoba, she hated doing that.

*

The town was unusually quiet. She lurked at the clock at her wrist - it was close to 6 P.M. She didn't saw a soul - bright lights at windows told her that probably almost everyone already retreated to their warm homes, even though the sun didn't even set down yet. It wouldn't have happened in the Zuzu - life was barely beginning at 6 there when everyone was leaving their offices and rushing to bars and restaurants. But it was her choice to leave. She couldn't blame anyone but herself. 

  
She slowly walked to the south of the town, standing beside the river. The wind was howling considerably stronger than earlier today, causing her to shiver a little. Yet she didn't move, finding a sight of flowing water strangely calming.   
"Hi. Pretty cold today, huh?"   
She turned around and saw a young guy, with blonde, spikey hair. He was smiling at her widely as if he knew her for ages.  
"Hi. Did we meet yet? I'm so sorry if we did, I'm so bad with faces it's embarrassing. I should probably just pretend I remember," she said nervously, but the boy in front of her waved his hand.   
"No, chill out! We didn't. I'm Sam," he said and reached out his hand. "You must be a new farmer everyone is talking about, right?"  
"Yeah," she squeezed his hand in a greeting. "Lily. Nice to meet you, Sam."  
"So, what are you doing here at this hour? Late walk?"  
"I wouldn't exactly call it late, it's barely evening," she shrugged. "I wanted to socialize a bit, but it seems everyone is home already. So I guess that plan is busted."  
"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" he smiled. "...but honestly, I'm starving and it's pretty cold out here. Wanna go home with me? Mom's doing eggplant parmesan for dinner, you're gonna love this."  
"You're sure? I wouldn't want to crash her dinner uninvited."  
Sam nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! Mom loves guests. She won't mind."  
Lily had to admit that the prospect of eating anything else than a fried fish sounded extremely good. Besides, that's why she went out, didn't she? To socialize. Let's socialize then. She smiled.  
"Let's go then. Lead the way."  
Sam grinned. "It's not like we have to go far. We're standing right next to my house," he pointed his head to the nearest building.   
"Oh. Right. That's why you're here, after all. Noted." She berated herself in her mind for acting socially awkward yet again. "Let's go inside then."

She followed him inside, glad that she finally found a decent guy in this town. He was not bad looking, and smelled with a pleasant mixture of cologne and... wait, was that weed?

You could get weed in Pelican Town? Well, that's a life-changer.

"Hi mom, I'm home!" yelled Sam right as he crossed the door. A familiar face showed from the kitchen yelling back at Sam.   
"Sam, leave your shoes by the door this time, I just finished mopping the floor. And... oh, you brought Lily with you, how lovely!"  
"Hi, Jodi. Sam invited me, I hope it's okay with you? I can totally go if it's an issue, no hard feelings."  
Sam blinked, confused. "You know each other? Am I the last person in this town to get to meet you?"  
"We met briefly at Pierre's store a few days ago. And nonsense honey, of course, you can stay. Dinner's almost ready. Sit down at the table. Vincent's staying at Marnie's tonight, so it's just us tonight."  
"And Vincent is?" asked Lily, as Jodi disappeared in the kitchen again.   
"My younger brother. He's 6. I'm sure you'll meet him soon, he's too loud to not be noticed."  
Lily took down her cardigan to hang it on her chair, and Sam gasped. "Is that... a Game of Thrones shirt?"  
She nodded. "It is. You're a fan, too?"  
"Damn right I am. You'll fit right in. We're watching it weekly with Sebastian and Abigail."  
Sebastian? Or right, the moody guy, Robin's son. She didn't think she met Abigail yet, though.   
Jodi came back with their dinner, so Lily turned her attention to the table. She didn't admit it, but she was actually starving.   
"Oh Jodi, this is fantastic," she said stuffing food down her throat. "You have to give me a recipe sometime. Although I'm sure it won't be as tasty as made by you, I'm a pretty lousy cook."  
"Oh, nonsense," she waved her hand acting modestly, but it was obvious she was thankful for that compliment. "I'm sure you're cooking better than Samson here. If he would have to move out, he would live entirely on pancakes and frozen pizza."  
"Hey, not fair!" he argued with a mouth full of food, and Lily laughed.  
For the first time since she moved from the city, she felt welcomed.


End file.
